Nikka Far has achieved much in the five years since she graduated from Santiago. Most recently, the alumnus reached a degree of success when she was cast in role of Tehran Mary in the film “Argo”.
Far has been an actor since she was twelve, appearing on television shows such as “The Bernie Mac Show” and “7th Heaven”. She had to pause her career in high school when it caused attendance issues, but she participated in Shark TV, both in front of and behind the camera.
After Santiago, Far studied theater and started auditioning for and acting in independent films. About a year ago, she gained more success by being cast as the Persian Princess on “Big Time Rush”, and then acting in more Disney Channel and Nickelodeon shows. She was then cast as a Cheerio on “Glee”.
Far was cast for “Argo” in a highly unconventional manner. She went to an open casting call for Persians because her dad wanted to go, after which she heard nothing from the film for a couple of months. She then received a call telling her that director Ben Affleck had personally picked her picture for the role of Tehran Mary.
After a few more auditions, she officially earned the role, and, as Tehran Mary was a real person, set about learning all about her, including how to emulate her accent and mannerisms.
Far spent just one day on set, but much of it was focused on her. Her scene involved her speaking with many extras acting as press around her. When she heard the marker go down to begin filming the scene, Far says the moment was like an out-of-body experience. “I knew the next few moment would only happen if I did something. It was surreal.”
But everything seemed to go well, and her role just kept increasing. What was originally about five lines for Far to speak grew “into a two-page monologue.”
Recently, Far has been doing interviews promoting the film and auditioning, in addition to a job as a post-production editor for Deluxe, a company which edits movies and shows such as “Twilight”, “The Walking Dead”, “Breaking Bad” and “Dexter”.
